


Power Hungry but Innocent

by SnowyAutumns



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Depression, Evil Plans, Gen, Gender-Neutral Chara (Undertale), Gender-Neutral Frisk (Undertale), Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Insane choild, Kidnapping, Multi, Other tags to be added, SOULless Chara, Science Experiments, Souls
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24640891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowyAutumns/pseuds/SnowyAutumns
Summary: Sans finds himself in the hands of a soulless child, one he lets his guard down around because he recognizes them. Bad decision.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	1. Undead Children are Dangerous

**Author's Note:**

> Bleh. First story. That I’ll post. Lel. Still writing this one, hopefully it isn’t too bad. Hopefully. Tryna get the hang of the html stuffs. If I mess up, tell me.
> 
> Drugs are bad, kids. Don’t let em get their hands on em and drug ya.

“hnnn…” Sans slowly awoke, his eyelights flickering in an attempt to focus. Not like there was any need to. The room he was in was pitch black. The only light there was came from the small beads of white light in his eye sockets. 

“uh. god, it's really dark...” He attempted to stand and stretch his suspiciously aching joints, only to find he was tied down tightly by some rope. 

“ _uhm._ thaaat’s not good. uh… hello? is anyone there?” He waited a bit for a response, but did not receive one. 

He pulled against the ropes binding him to the chair he sat on, to no avail. “someone? if this is a prank, it’s not funny!” 

Panic started to boil in his soul, causing the already small eyelights to shrink. He looked around desperately for another monster, but nobody came. Just darkness, masking the ever hungry shadows.

A door opening startled him out of his thoughts, the creaking of it making itself ever-so-present. 

“hello? pap? tori? kiddo…?” He tried to guess the mystery person hiding in the shadows, which made their form indistinguishable in the lack of light. 

They giggled like a child, but certainly not one Sans knew. He narrowed his eye sockets, staring into the shadows in an attempt to find a trace of a person he knew. 

“show yourself! who are you?!” They just giggled again in response, humming a little tune. 

“can you not hear me? i said show yourself, coward!” They smiled so wide and gleefully it was almost audible. Little red slits pierced through the darkness, staring right into Sans as he squirmed uncomfortably.

They walked towards him, making a clack on the concrete ground with every painfully long stride they took. Stepping into the light which made their eyes even more present, was a child. One that Sans knew, but he just couldn’t pin down who it was. 

The golden locket on their chest shone, playing the tune they’d been humming. “oh, uh… hiya? i, um, i think i know you, but. y’know. memory’s not that great. catch me up?” 

They smiled down at him, a devious look on their face. The music box that was buried deep in the locket slowed to a halt, leaving them in complete, uncomfortable, silence. 

“You do not know me, you have just seen me. Although I do not blame you for mixing up the two. Hehe.” Their voice certainly didn’t sound familiar, leaving the small skeleton even more confused. 

“you sure talk sophisticated for a child. how old’re ya?”

They looked at the ground, as if it actually took effort to recall. “Does not matter really. It is rather complicated. No more questions now. That is not the reason you are here.” 

He smiled nervously, shifting in his seat. He felt so small and powerless with them looking down on him with those eyes. 

“speaking of, why am i tied down? is that necessary? it’s kinda uncomfortable, heh.” The air was tense, but the person didn’t seem to mind, their smile only growing bigger. At this rate their whole face would be one big, devious smile.

“Oh, it is 100% necessary. Can’t have you running away now, can we?” Sans’ eyelights flickered out, only leaving the red glow from the other’s eyes to light the room. 

“uh… eheh… what? you… could you just let me go? I kinda don’t wanna be here.” They giggled again, this time some bitterness coming with the sound. 

His eyelights came back on, looking at them nervously. “Hehe. I’m afraid I can’t do that. I need you for this experiment.” 

They turned away from him, flipping on a light. Sans struggled against the restraints, only stopping when he felt them burning his wrists and ankles. 

“l-let’s not, please? i don’t think i want to be the next lab rat.” They gave no response to his comment, instead pulling out a few tools. 

Normally when a kid would say they wanted to conduct an ‘experiment’ he wouldn’t be worried, but he got a terrible aura from this kid. The way their eyes stared at him like he didn’t even exist, how they tied him to a chair, the way they speaked, it was just _off._ It didn’t sit right with Sans at all. His senses just told him to _run._

“hey! c’mon kid, please! you don’t need to do anything! why are you _roping_ me into this?” He didn’t know why he was pleading, but it wasn’t like he could do much else. 

Rain drummed against the roof aggressively, taking away the silence. It didn’t calm him any, though. 

They turned to him, their smile completely gone. It was almost worse. “That is enough talking from you.” 

He ignored the demand and continued to plead, hoping that they would listen. “i can help you with whatever you’re doing, just don’t experiment on me, please-” He squeaked as he was cut off by them shoving a bunch of cloth into his mouth, silencing him. They tied a colorful bandana around his jaw, double knotting it for good measure.

“I would suggest you not take my warnings lightly from now on. Not like it will matter though. You will die either way.” He jumped at this, pulling with all his strength against the rope.

They smiled once again at his struggles, leaning down to inject something into the part of his spine that resembled a neck. He looked at them pleadingly, his eyelights almost looking like puppy dog eyes. 

They giggled at this, rubbing his skull with a thumb comfortingly. “Do not worry. This will only hurt for a moment.” He shook his head and leaned away from them, his soul beating rapidly. “shtp! nh nh nh, shtp, plgh!”

Their smile dropped, along with any hint of friendliness they had. Their smile quickly came back, but strained. 

“Stay. Still. I do not have much time to do this.” Before he had time to respond, they stabbed his ‘neck’ with the needle with no sign of mercy in sight. 

He yiped in pain, shuddering as the cold liquid was injected into him. It’s effect was immediate, calming him down and making him a bit dizzy. 

They took off the bandana and removed the gag, untying his wrists as well. “See? That wasn’t so hard.” 

He looked at them as if they were changing shape. “iiiis the room spinning or is that just me?” He giggled stupidly, looking around the room. They snorted, kneeling down to his level and smiling, amused.

“Now. Could you pull out your soul for me?” He giggled again, shaking his head. “naaah. ‘s warm.” 

They tapped his shirt. “Yes but I need it. I could make it warmer for you?” He smiled warmly and nodded. “that’d be nice~” 

His soul glowed brightly, and phased right through his bright blue jacket as if it wasn’t even there.


	2. Innocent Demon Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara obtains a soul but refuses to let Sans go, wanting to use him for experiments. Papyrus and Undyne show up to take him back, but are they in for a treat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t care this is kinda ooc, I’m so tired. I regret nothing.

He awoke once again, his eyelights taking more time to form in the vacant dark. 

He shivered, noticing his dim, cold soul. “wh…” His voice was noticeably weak, and it hurt to even try to speak. 

He coughed roughly, noticing the shackles that held his hands behind his back. The chains clinked together as he pulled against them, panic already making itself present. 

_what happened…? my head hurts…_

He groaned and shivered, looking at the concrete. He wracked his skull trying to remember what had happened. “p...pap...? someone…? h-hello…?” 

He winced as his soul sent a pang of pain throughout his bones, causing him to curl in on himself. He coughed, pulling himself to speak louder. 

“g-guys? is a-anyone there?” No one responded. 

“bro? k-kiddo? i-i kinda need s-some help here…” Nothing. Just the echo of his own voice, which grew more desperate every second. 

“p-please… i-i’m scared…” _But nobody came._

He gave up trying to call, instead focusing on his soul. _why does it feel so cold and empty…?_

If he had access to his hands, he would’ve checked himself. He noticed the blood stained on his jacket and shorts, only now realizing how beat-up he looked. And felt. 

His instincts sounded the red alarms right at that moment, telling him to _run, get out, get to safety,_ but he couldn’t. He _couldn’t._ He was trapped.

_have i been kidnapped…?_

The sudden realization made him want to scream. Scream for someone, scream for pap, _RUN._

_Nothing_ here felt right, and _he_ didn’t feel right. He knew he should stay quiet if he had been kidnapped, god knows what they’d do to him if he screamed, but he couldn’t help it. 

For this first time in a while, he was scared. Scared for his _life._

Fear and powerlessness overwhelmed him, and he screamed. Not those baby yells, no, a full on _I’m about to get murdered_ kind of scream.

He must’ve screamed for a good 5 minutes before he stopped, tears pooling in his eye sockets. It was useless. Pointless. No one was going to be able to help him. His friends didn’t know where he was. 

Was this karma? Karma for not being a good friend, a good _brother?_ Did the world just want to torture him? 

Tears ran down his boney cheeks, leaving magic trails on his skull as he _sobbed._

The sound of scared, broken sobs filled the empty room, reminding him of how truly alone he was. How he pushed everyone away and now he was paying the price.

“Hehe, you sure are loud!” He whipped his head up at the voice, eyelights little pinpricks in his eye sockets. Almost small enough that they emitted little-to-no light. 

“Oh, are you crying? I’m sorry!” It was almost mocking how cheery their voice was. 

Their apology meant nothing to him. Until he realized it was a child. A small, probably 10-11 year old _child._

There’s no way this was his kidnapper. Was there? He wasn’t going to take any chances. 

“let me go.” He growled, wishing he had access to his magic so he could be just a little more threatening. 

“Sorry, can’t do that! A soul for a soul, right?” They giggled, skipping down the stairs and towards him. Their heart locket bounced on their chest as they skipped, playing a little tune. He shivered at their giggling.

“so you’re the reason my soul feels so dead.” They shrugged playfully, sticking out their tongue. 

“Hehe, yeah! If I let you go, it would probably go back to normal. But I’m not doing that! Gotta make some sacrifices for the greater good of ‘science’!” The emphasis on the last word led Sans to a pretty good conclusion that was not the reason. 

“why am i here.” He was nothing but blunt, having no interest in a friendly chat. He just wanted answers. 

“So I can take parts of your soul ‘till ya die. Hehe!” His eyelights flickered out, but quickly came back as he shivered. 

“you- you’re not serious.” They shrugged again, smiling as if it was nothing. 

“Why wouldn’t I sacrifice a soul to make others? I already made my own! You see, when you take an artificial soul and put a part of a living soul into it, it can house li- Oops! I’m rambling again! Sorry!”

He just stared at them, confused as hell. They had been rambling like a child would when they wanted to show off a drawing, but instead it was about creating _life?_ A _living soul_ that wasn’t made by the traditional means. 

“you what?! nonono, there’s no way I’d believe that.” 

Their eyes glowed brighter in excitement. “Do you wanna see?! I absorbed it, and now I have a soul again! I’m not soulless anymore!” _anymore?_

They immediately pulled out their soul, which glowed a bright white like a monster soul, but it was a human one? 

He must’ve showed surprise on his face because they giggled happily, putting it back into their chest. “See? I told you! Now I can finally give Azzie a soul!” _azzie?_

“who’s azzie?” They stopped talking, and a confused look dropped over their face. “Asriel? Asriel Dreemurr? Oh, heh, I always called him Azzie, sorry. Sibling nicknames, amirite?” 

His eyelights shrunk at the realization. _i do know this person!_ “you’re _chara dreemurr?!_ ” 

They nodded happily, gripping their heart locket. “Mhm! First fallen human! It’s a shame I didn’t get to meet you, you’re funny.” 

He was at a loss for words. The first fallen human, who had died decades ago, was here, right in front of him. Alive. _Not soulless._

“b-but how?! didn’t you die? didn’t asriel absorb your soul?” They nodded, the gleeful look still not leaving their face.

“Yeah, but I just lost my soul. My conscience was preserved. Frisk woke me up when they fell. Their determination is really something, eh?” He nodded, sighing. 

“i guess that makes sense. so you just need another part of my soul so you can make one for asriel?” They nodded energetically. 

“Yeah, but I wanna make more than that! I wanna see if you can resurrect a monster if you sprinkle their dust on one! I wanna see if you can give it another trait! What if you could mix traits?! I wanna see if it can bring back humans as well! _I wanna see if I can inject them with enough determination to gain control over the timeline._ ” 

The last part made him shiver. “uh, sorry pal, i don’t really trust anyone that kidnapped me and took a part of my freakin soul to control the timeline.”

They giggled, letting go of the locket. “Hehe. Sarcasm noted. Not like you have any choice, though. You’re my little life provider~” 

_you do not realize how wrong that sounds, kid._ “please? i’m willing to give up part of my soul if it’ll make asgore and tori happy, but i don’t think i would want to die for it…” 

They just smiled deviously, kneeling to his level. “Who said you had a choice?” 

He jumped when ink spilled out of their vacant eyes and mouth, pooling on the ground like a portal to the underworld. “ _ **Since when were you the one in control?**_ ”

“Where’s the skeleton?!” They both jumped as the door behind them was kicked down, splitting it down the middle. 

“BACK AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!” Sans pulled against the shackles that held him to the wall towards his brother. “pap!” The demon child turned to the two behind them, growling. 

“ **Of _course._ Of course someone would come and ruin my plans.**” They summoned some red knives out of the ground, hissing. 

“ **LEAVE AND I WILL NOT HURT YOU.** ” The two summoned a few bones and spears, standing in confident poses. “NOT UNTIL YOU RETURN SANS.” 

Undyne was even more confident, just itching for a fight. “Yeah!! Give us the small skeleton back!!” 

They just smiled deviously. “ **Heheh… alright then.**

_**Let’s go.**_ ”


	3. Sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus, Undyne, and Chara have a battle. But, it’s unclear who won.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah sorry I’ve been gone so long!! I fell out of the fandom for a bit, got caught up in other things, but I’m back! Here’s the next chapter!

Chara’s beady red eyes started to glow brighter and brighter, forcing Papyrus and Undyne to look away in order to preserve their vision. 

**“I gave you a chance to leave, but now you’re stuck with me!”** Chara summoned some of their signature red knives and threw them at enough force towards the ceiling to make it collapse in on itself. 

“Oh crud, Papyrus move!” Undyne grabbed Papyrus and yanked him away from the door before he got crushed by the debris. 

The demon cackled and summoned more, throwing them at the two with a determined look on their face. Papyrus summoned some bones in front of him and Undyne, shattering the knives effortlessly. 

Chara growled. **“Why won’t you start a battle sequence?! Don’t you want to have a real fight?!”**

Undyne smirked at the child, making them even more pissed off. “Sorry, but I can’t do that for you! That’d be certain death if I ever heard it!” 

Chara glared at her, then jumped a bit as their soul was turned a familiar green. **“Hey! You can’t do that! That’s not fair!”**

She just smirked and walked up to them as they tried with all their might to break free of the magic, to no avail. “Now, tell us why you took Sans.” 

Chara’s expression turned from an agitated look to a snarky grin. **“Our battle isn’t over with yet.”**

Undyne gasped and tumbled backward as several knives pierced her skin. The demon cackled with a newfound snarky attitude as they were freed of the magic. 

Papyrus’s expression turned to one of worry as he made sure Undyne was okay. “U-UNDYNE? ARE YOU ALRIGHT? I CAN-” 

Undyne cut him off with a growl as she got back to her feet. “I’m fine. What are you waiting for, don’t just stand there! Attack that thing!” 

Chara smirked a bit at being called a thing, but the smile did not long last, as Papyrus began his usual monologue they’d heard before. 

“HUMAN, I BELIEVE YOU CAN DO BETTER! MAYBE YOU ARE HURT IN SOME WAY? I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CAN HELP YOU GET BACK ON THE RIGHT TRACK! UNDER ALL THAT… INKY… MESS, THERE IS A GOOD PERSON!” 

The demon huffed with boredom. They’d heard the spiel countless times. **“What, you think kindness can stop a rampaging psychopath? Hah! Don’t make me laugh. You can never change my mind, not after-”**

They cut themselves off before they thought about it too much. **“It doesn’t matter. I’ll just take you both too. Maybe then I could perform as many experiments as I li-”**

“What were you going to say? After what..?” Chara jumped a little at the tall skeleton’s quiet and caring tone. 

_**How ironic,**_ they thought, _**don’t jump at his shouting but you jump at this.**_

**“None of your concern. It’s not like you could ever make me miss those days. I have found new entertainment. I mean, after all, bad people do bad things for no reasons. Now enough talk.”**

Chara summoned a different attack this time, summoning a golden heart locket, almost identical to the one that lay on their sweater. 

The two enemies looked at it in curiosity, until the locket turned pitch black and poured ink out of the music box; similar to the ink dripping down their face. They twirled it in the air, which made the ink get absolutely everywhere. A drop got on Papyrus’s glove and burned right through it. 

He stared at it in shock. “HUMAN, I DON’T THINK YOU SHOULD HAVE INK ON YOUR FACE IF IT’S ABLE TO BURN THROUGH MATERIAL-” He yelped as another drop got on his knee and made him double over in pain. 

“Papyrus!” Chara just cackled at the sight. **“How pathetic. Why spend your time caring for others? Those people will die sooner or later.”**

Papyrus shakily looked up at the demon child, his expression one of pain and mild concern. “Human, did someone you love die?” 

They flinched hard. 

_“Chara! Stop!”_

_“Azzie, if you don’t fight back we’ll die! I didn’t die for nothing!”_

_“Those humans have lives, Chara! You can’t just kill them! We’re going home!”_

_“Yeah, well, they don’t matter as much to me as you do! You’re the only true family I have, Asriel!”_

_“And those families have friends, that would miss them! Just like you would me! I don’t want to kill them, Chara! Please!”_

_“Asriel-”_

_“Chara… *sniff*”_

_“I…”_

_“...”_

_“Fine…”_

_Dusted right before my eyes._

“...” 

They said nothing. They couldn’t say anything. The tears that were flowing down their cheeks were only now even registered. Somehow, they burned more than the ink. 

**“I… n-no, I won’t… let myself be… I…”**

They clenched their fists tightly.

**“I WON’T BE DEFEATED BY YOU!”**

They ripped the heart locket off their chest and threw it at Papyrus with all their strength. He yelped as it hit his eye and shattered the bone around it, and dropped to his knees. 

“Papyrus!” Undyne and Sans cried in unison. 

**“Huh? Oh, right. You’re still here. You’ve been so quiet all this time, ya’know?”**

Chara turned to him and smirked. Sans glared at them for a moment, before jumping a bit as more ink spilled down their face.

**“Now the fun can really begin.”**

The demon cackled and summoned another knife, grabbing it and running towards Undyne, who was crouched beside Papyrus.

They slashed at her, but before it could touch her she summoned some spears in front of them. The knife sliced through them like butter. 

**“Hah! Is that the best you got?”** She glared at them and summoned another spear, hitting the knife. 

Chara had a good grip on the knife, though, and they pushed against each other. Undyne, unsurprisingly, was stronger, and pushed them back into a wall. **“Grr.”**

They started to get up, but they weren’t quick enough and instead got pinned to the wall but Undyne’s spears. **“Gh-!”**

She walked toward the child with another spear in her hand, raising it in the air. “That’s enough talk out of you.” 

Chara looked up at the spear fearfully for a moment, before smiling, an idea in mind. 

The spears started to melt as Chara oozed more ink out of their skin, cackling. Undyne tried to defend before they got the chance to attack, but unfortunately the child was too quick. They knocked Undyne off her feet onto a puddle of their ink. 

She gasped and flinched a bit, expecting a burn, but it never came. **“Heheh, don’t worry, I’m not that cruel.”** Sans on the other end of the room doubted that. 

They pointed a knife at her face and smirked. **“I’ll be sure to make this quick. Then I’ll take the other bone brother over there. Wouldn’t hurt to have a spare soul.”**

Undyne growled at this and tried to get up, only to find she was now stuck to the ground. **“Heh, don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”**

They smirked and raised their knife, ready to strike. “It was _knife_ to meet you.”

“W-Wait, human!” 

Chara growled and turned to Papyrus, who was still on his knees trying to heal himself. **“Grr, what?!”**

They stopped their ranting as they heard the music box in their heart locket start to play. Somehow, it had still been intact. They recognized the song that played. They’d heard it hundreds of times, and yet they never got tired of it.

_“Hey, Chara! Wake up! I got you a gift for your birthday!”_

_“Azzie, I told you, you didn’t have to get me anything…”_

_“Nonsense! Everyone deserves something on their birthday!”_

_“Azzie…”_

_“Mom and Dad are still asleep, but they already bought some cake mix, do you want to help me make the cake and put in the candles?”_

_“*sigh* alright, I’m up.”_

_…_

_“Here, Chara, open my gift first!”_

_“Haha, alright.”_

_“...Do you like it? I got one for me, too! *holds up his heart locket*”_

_“...I love it.”_

_“It even plays a little tune, see? *winds up the music box*”_

_“That’s a nice tune… where’d you get these, Azzie?”_

_“Ah, well… I kinda had Mr. Gaster help me build them! He’s a great engineer for being a scientist, isn’t he?”_

_“Yeah. He is.”_

**“Gh… I-** I… stop…” 

Chara dropped the knife and covered their ears, backing up to the wall. The ink stopped and evaporated, allowing Undyne to get up. 

She jumped up quickly with a look of pure bewilderment. “You… without all that… stuff, you sound like a child…” 

Despite her anger, she sounded a little worried at that fact. That Chara not only looked like a child, but sounded like one, too. 

“Human? Are you alright…?” He reached out to touch them, only to jump at a stifled sob they emitted, burying their head in their hands. 

“Here, it’s alright, human.” Before Undyne could protest, Papyrus pulled them into his arms and held them. 

“See? You don’t have to be bad! You’re just hurt. I, Papyrus, will make sure you never hurt again!” He heard Chara chuckle a little at that, then mumble. “You don’t understand, things will never be the same. I-I can’t do, what I wanted to.”

Papyrus tilted his head. “What was so important that you needed to take my brother?” 

The child wiped their eyes and looked up at the skeleton. “I-I didn’t have a soul, so I had to make another one but I didn’t know how, so I took a part of his soul and m-merged it with an artificial soul I created.” 

Undyne and Papyrus both gasped at this. “HE’LL BE OKAY, RIGHT?!” 

Papyrus sounded quite upset. They just nodded. 

“He should be, just a little tired and weak, b-but I wanted to make one for Azzie too. He deserves a soul more than me!” Undyne tilted her head. 

“Who’s Azzie?” Chara looked at her, a bit confused. “Asriel Dreemurr? My brother.” 

She gasped. “I knew I recognized you from somewhere! You’re Chara Dreemurr!” 

The child nodded. “Y-Yeah, that’s me. How did you forget what I looked like?” 

Undyne shrugged. “I don’t know, but how are you alive? Didn’t you die?”

Chara nodded again. “Yeah, we did, but my consciousness was preserved and Frisk woke me up when they fell. Pretty cool what determination can do.” 

Papyrus nodded and smiled. “YES! THE HUMAN FRISK IS QUITE THE WONDER!” 

They smiled and mumbled something, before shaking their head and looking up at them. 

“But I can’t make a soul for Azzie now. I want him to be happy. I couldn’t live with myself if he wasn’t.” 

Undyne thought for a moment. “Maybe talk to Alphys, she’s smart enough to figure out something.” 

Chara shook their head. “She is smart, but she doesn’t know determination like I do. I tried everything else. It’s the only way.” 

Papyrus looked legitimately contemplative for a moment, but then shook his head. “I’M SORRY, SMALL HUMAN, BUT I CAN’T LET YOU DO THAT AGAIN. I’D LIKE MY BROTHER TO HAVE AS MUCH OF A SOUL AS POSSIBLE.” 

Chara gave him puppy eyes, but he still refused. They sighed. 

“Fine… I’m sorry.” Papyrus smiled. “IT’S OKAY! YOU ARE FORGI-”

C r a c k .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heheh ;)


End file.
